


Si Seulement Pour Un Moment

by StygianScaphism



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Emotional Roller Coaster, F/F, Feelings, Heavy Angst, The Author Regrets Nothing, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 08:29:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17721725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StygianScaphism/pseuds/StygianScaphism
Summary: Emotion often builds silently, rising like pressure in a kettle, or a pot on the stove. Most people tend to let a little steam escape here and there, to relax themselves and bare a glimpse of their raw state to the world- and then return to normal, comforted by family, friends, or content in their relaxation. Then, there are those of us who don’t- who can’t, for a multitude of reasons. They let their emotions stack precariously, teetering from one side to the other until the kettle explodes it’s top- and then burns out, in a mere second.Adrien Agreste is a kettle whistling loudly- on the edge of a breakdown.





	Si Seulement Pour Un Moment

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to everyone who left kudos and comments on my last work! I appreciated the feedback immensely, and it gave me a great morale boost.   
> —  
> That being said, get ready for another bit of heartbreak! Perhaps, however, there is a touch of sweetness to this one.

Emotion often builds silently, rising like pressure in a kettle, or a pot on the stove. Most people tend to let a little steam escape here and there, to relax themselves and bare a glimpse of their raw state to the world- and then return to normal, comforted by family, friends, or content in their relaxation. Then, there are those of us who don’t- who can’t, for a multitude of reasons. They let their emotions stack precariously, teetering from one side to the other until the kettle explodes it’s top- and then burns out, in a mere second.

Adrien Agreste is a kettle whistling loudly- on the edge of a breakdown. 

And really, he tells himself, this is no one’s fault but his responsibility to bear. After all, who can be his confidant when he is Chat Noir, fearsome superhero of the city? A scoff escapes him bitterly- Ladybug is the city’s only hero, if he’s being honest with himself. 

He’s just a nobody who somehow ended up with something _powerful_ in is hands. 

He’s not afraid to say he fell in love with it- the thrill, the fight, the glory- and her. Ladybug; His lady, if he’s even really allowed to call her that. He knew her heart belonged to someone else; but he never thought it would be him. Really, how ironic it was to know that she was in love with him- his civilian self, and the person he wasn’t. He could never go back to being plain, old, perfect Adrien Agreste- son of Paris’s top designer, supermodel, and all-around perfect. Chat Noir gave him wings, and for a while he thought that would be enough for him.

To lead two lives, to long for someone he could never have, to exist painfully as two seperate people and face two seperate paths. 

It wasn’t- _but who didn’t see that coming, really?_

He was no stranger to despair, to anguish- to whatever you wished to call, thick skin developed in the midst of a cold home and a broken family. There is a reason, he knows, he can only be the shadow to Ladybug’s light- but he tells himself he shouldn’t mind, and he really doesn’t, because Ladybug is everything he isn't. She is strong, courageous and a beacon of hope and light to Paris, and he could never embody what she bears upon her shoulders so dutifully.

He loves her because she always manages to smile, to laugh, to show emotion and compassion, empathy beyond her line of duty and as just another person now, real and approachable - and he says again, nobody but her could be so humanly flawed and yet so perfect. 

And him?

Well, he’s the cocky, arrogant sidekick. He flirts and drops cheesy lines, he supports her no matter what, and he trusts her with his life, but he knows she could take down akumas without him. 

_He knows she doesn’t need him._

That’s okay with him, really. He’s already grateful she tolerates him and his advances, grateful that their partners, that they’re friends, and that should be enough for him.

_Oh, but it isn’t._

Now- knowing that her heart does not belong to the real him- it’s the worst feeling he can imagine, and his heart is shrivelling in his chest quietly as each minute, each hour, each day passes. 

Shaking himself out of his self-pity, he grimaces at the dull throb in his body, crouched on top of a roof, and slides down to settle onto their porch, not noticing his surroundings in his daze. He stands blearily at the railing, leaning over it and exhales deeply. 

_Some nights, it’s just too much for him to handle._

He can feel his heart breaking under the pressure, of now being faced with a choice- to return to her love, as someone he isn’t, or to break her heart and then accept she won’t ever love Chat Noir. 

He can’t pretend with her- but he’ll be damned if he breaks her heart. He’s just too selfish. Instead, he thinks, he will fake ignorance until it eats him alive. The morbidity of the thought brings a hollow chuckle to Chat’s throat, and his elongated claws subconsciously clench around the railing, squeezing hard. He laughs, and then he laughs some more- 

_Until he’s crying, and he hunches over to let the tears trek their way down his face._

“..Chat?”

For a second, he fools himself into thinking it’s Ladybug. He knows it isn’t, and yet when he turns around he’s meet with a split second of disappointment, before confusion fills his face, and he doesn’t notice how she softens and looks ashamed to find him here, crying. 

_Wait._

Why is Marinette out _here_ , with him?

Quickly, he shifts his eyes around- and it’s night, but he sees just fine, thanks to his miraculous powers and light streaming out of the latch to her room. 

Oh. 

He’s on the roof of her bakery, and house. If the scenario was any different, he’d laugh it off, hit her with a pun and enjoy himself a little bit. 

Instead, he hastily removes his grip from her balcony and bows his head low so she can’t see him like this. 

He doesn’t want Marinette to think of him like this- to think of _Chat Noir_ like this.

Wordlessly, he turns to leave, until the gentle but unyielding grip of a hand on his wrist has him pausing in his place, tensed. He could break her grip easily, and leave. 

He doesn’t _want_ to. 

Instead, he lets her turn him around, lets her grab his face gently and pull him down to see the tracks of his tears, undried, to run her thumbs over them soothing as she looked him over. He could fall asleep under her touch, eyes heavy and fluttering closed- because suddenly, he’s just so tired. 

“Oh, Chat…”

He’s too tired to pay much attention to her. He knows he should leave now, before she pushes him away- Marinette hardly even knows him like this. Instead, he slumps into her, and clutched his hands onto her cotton nightshirt, a fragile embrace. His head slides down onto her shoulder.

“Please,” he whispers, and she stills. He’s never sounded so breakable before. 

“Just let me stay here for a moment, and I promise you won’t see me again.”

Marinette say nothing. Instead, she wraps her arms around him and lets him breathe in the smell of freshly baked bread and vanilla, feel her warmth, and comforts him- not as Ladybug, but as _Marinette._

She lets him breathe, rubbing circles into the leather of his suit, and the night is still as they exist in a harmony they hadn’t achieved before- as Ladybug, nor Adrien. 

And for a moment, everything is okay.


End file.
